Method of molding ceramic articles



Aug. l0, 1948. R. w. EHLERS METHOD OF MOLDING CERAMIC ARTICLES Filed Dec. 4, 1941 w f A w am um ANQN Patented Aug. 1o, 194s 2,446,372

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE :METHOD F MOLDING CERAMIC ARTIGES Russell W. Ehlers, Flint, Mich.. asllgnor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application December 4, 1941, Serial No. 421,551

(Cl. 2S-156) 2 article over the intermediate molded article, it is therefore desirable to use as little of the plastic material as possible.

The plastic material, or binder as it may be nal ring of the ceramic material. 5 called-should be of such a character that it re- The injection molding of spark plug insulators tains the molded article in its molded shape duror other ceramic ware presents technical problems ing the first Sieges 0f the filial heet treatmentwhich differ considerably from these 'present in It is therefore necessary that there be no flow the injection molding of those articles commonly of the binder during any of the heat treating of known as molded plastics, for the reason that in 1o the article. the case of the ceramic ware the material which To this endI have developed.A as a Part 0f the makes the working composition plastic and moldmanufacturing process of ceramic ware. a plasable is not present in the finished article. The tic material which is thermoplastic to Provide plastic feature is therefore merely a step in fluidity at molding temperatures. and which is the process of manufacture of the iinished cealso slowly thermosetting to cause the plastic or ramic article. binder to set permanently at the temperatures The manufacture of ceramic ware by injection reached during preliminary heat treatment. or molding entails mainly the following steps: drying. of the molded article so that deforma- (1) Mixing the finely pulverized ceramic mation of the molded article due to flow of the terialwith the plastic material; binder will be avoided. This has been done by (2) Molding the resultant composition into the the use of a mixture of a thermoplastic resin form of the nished article in some form of press with a substance which is both thermoplastic or molding machine; and slowly thermosetting. I have found ethyl 3) Heat treating the molded article to give it cellulose mixed with shelloc to Work highly sotthe properties desired in the finished article. lSfaCtOilly aS Such a binder. It is considered It will be understood, of course, that the above advisable to add a plasticizer to make the comthree steps set forth the process from the func- DOSllilGYl meldeble at lower temperatures. Prefertional point of View and that each of the above ably the DlaStlciZer Should be one Which iS not listed steps may itself involve several related opcapable of dissolving the l'eSlIi and Which has a mations suiliciently high vapor pressure so that it is driven It wm be understood by those skilled 1n the srt ed et relatively 10W temperatures et which the that the ceramic material may be any of a num- Slowly thermosetting Perl? 0f the binder Will Setber of materials widely used having the proper- I have successfully used normal butyl stearate as ties desired. The use of refractory oxides such Such Plastieizel' Y as the oxides of aluminum, teuurium, thorium, In the dreumes Figure 1 Shows the moving beryuium, magnesium, zirconium, yttrium and tiparts of an im ection molding machine which may tanium or of refractory compounds such as silbe used in practisingthis invention. The machine limanite, mullite and the other minerals of this iS Shown With Parts broken away and in section groupiis possible. These are merely given as t0 illustrate detailsexamples and it will be appreciated that the 40 Figure 2 ShOWS a Dart 0f the maohiue of Figure method is capable of broad appncation, 1 with the die members separated and the molded The purpose of the plastic material is merely article Partially elected from the die: and to give the dry uncohesive ceramic material a. cer- Figure 3 is a perspective View of e. molded but tain workability to permit its easy handling for unred insulator Shown as it appears When remanufacturing purposes, The plastic material moved from the die, with the sprue broken off. should accordingly be chosen to give the best re- In Figure 1, I0 indicates generally the injector sults toward the end desired. The plastic mamechanism by means 0f which the mixture of terial should be such a one as to give the comceramic material and binder is forced through position or mixture of ceramic and' plasti e, heating chamber I2 and nozzle Il into the cavimaximum of mcldability, because it is desirable ties in the cooperating die members I6 and I8. to keep the amount of plastic in the mixture to The injector I0 consists of a cylinder 20 Supa minimum inasmuch as the plastic is baked out plied with pulverized molding composition from of the molded article and the article shrinks dur-v any suitable reservoir or other source through ing the baking out process. To avoid distortion conduit 22 and port 24. 26 indicates apiston and great change in dimensions of the finished fitted in cylinder 2l and operated in any suitable manner, as by hydraulic piston 28, to force the molding composition out of the cylinder 28 into the heating chamber I2 and from there into the dies. The stroke of the piston 26 should be such as to supply on each stroke the amount of material required to illl the molds.

Cylinder 20 is in part a heating chamber I2, mentioned above. The heat may be supplied by any suitable means such as steam, hot water, heated oil, electricity, and the like. In the drawings, I have indicated a plurality of simple electrical resistance heaters 30, supplied from any suitable source, not shown. These heaters comprise a current carrying band or coil 32 supported in an insulating case 34. A thermostat, not shown, may be provided at some point along cylinder 20 to keep the temperature fairly constant. The heating means described brings the temperature of the composition to the point where it is sufiiciently fluid to ow through nozzle I4 into the dies. This nozzle should be of relatively small diameter and the molding composition should be4 near enough to congealing temperature so that there is no substantial ilow from the nozzle between injections.

Die member I6 is clamped to support 36 which is mounted for limited sliding movement on guide rods 46 secured to any suitable base, not shown. Stops 41 are provided to limit the amount of movement of parts I6-36 away from nozzle I4 to a fraction only of the movement of the other die member I8.

Movable die member I8 is secured to housing 48 mounted on support 50 which is slidable on the guide rods 46. This die member, with its housing and support, may be moved back and forth on the guide rods 46 by means of suitable hydraulic mechanism illustrated as comprising a fixed cylinder I in which is a piston 52 connected to the support 50 by rod 54.

The cooperating die members I6 and I8 are provided with die inserts I6 and I8', respectively,

each formed with cooperating openings having the contour, when combined, of a spark plug insulator. Die inserts are employed so that they may be replaced by other die inserts when worn or when other shapes are to be made without requiring complete new dies. The openings in the dies are connected by sprue passagesv 58 leading to a central sprue passage 60 going to the nozzle I4. The end of the passage 60 which engages the nozzle is preferably provided with a die insert as shown.

Center wire spindles are indicated by 62, which extend into the die cavities, as shown in Figure 1, when the dies are in 'closed position. These spindles are provided with threaded portions 63 and outer pilot portions 64 which are guided in suitable openings provided in the fixed die member I6 in alignment with the die cavities. These spindles, when in the position shown in Figure 1, constitute a portion of the die so that as the owing molding composition is forced into the cavity it conforms to the shape of the cavity and spindle. The spindle, of course, conforms in shape and dimensions to the usual central electrode of the spark plug.

Spindles 62 are provided at their other ends with collars 65 and enlarged shanks 66 provided at their opposite ends with bolts 68 threaded therein. Shanks 66 are connected for rotation by means of keys 10 with nuts 12 mounted for rotation in threaded bores 14 provided in housings 48. Bores `14 are recessed to receive gears I6 driven in any suitable manner by central ring 4 gear 18; the mounting and drive for the ring gear are not illustrated. Gears 16 are keyed to nuts 12 by means of keys 88'. It should be noted that the dstance between collar 66 and bolt 68. which serves as a stop, is greater than the length of the nut 12.

Cooperating with each of the die cavities is an ejector 82 in the form of a cylinder having an outer flanged end 83 clamped between cooperating plates 84 and 86 which are secured together.

Cooperating with the central sprue aperture 60 is ejector 88 having its outer end 90 shaped as shown to interlock with the central sprue so as to insure its removal from the sprue opening when the dies are opened. The shaft 88 is provided with collar 88 clamped between plates 84 and 86. Connected to plates 84-86 is shank 82 having rack teeth 94 actuated by spur gear 96.

This apparatus operates as follows:

With piston 26 withdrawn to the outer end of the cylinder 20, port 24 is 11n-covered and the cylinder is supplied with finely pulverized molding composition through conduit 22 either by gravity or by pressure. With the dies in closed position piston 26 is now moved to the right forcing the pulverized molding composition into the heating chamber and at the same time forcing out the molding composition which had previously been heated to the point of flow in the heating chamber I2. 'Ihe fluid material passes out through nozzle I4, passage 6l) and passages 58 into the die cavities.

After the completion of the stroke the piston 26 is maintained in position to apply pressure to the molding composition for some seconds, preferably 5 or 6, to allow the material to harden in the molds. To facilitate congealing of the material, the dies I6 and I8 may be cooled in any suitable manner as by passing water through passages |00 formed in die members I6 and I8. Total time in the die for the composition will depend to some extent on wall thickness of the sections molded. This may vary, in the case of spark plug insulators, from 20 seconds for comparatively thin-walled insulators to a minute or more for the larger sizes.

When the molded parts have cooled sufficiently, piston 52 is actuated to draw support 50, housing 48 and die member I8 to the right. Should there be any tendency for the material to stick in the dies, die member I6 and its support 36 are pulled to the right by the adhesion of the material to the die until the support engages the stop 41 whereupon the dies open. Piston 52 then continuesto the end of its stroke and the dies assume the position shown in Figure 2.

Next, gear 18 is rotated by any suitable means thereby rotating gears 16, nuts 12 and center-wire spindles 62. y During the first part of this movement the spindles 62 are unscrewed from the bores in the molded articles while during the latter part of the movement they are free of the threaded bore. Since the pitch of the thread of the center-wire spindle is less than the pitch of the thread of the nut 12, the center wire will not move as far to the right per revolution as will the nut. It is to allow for this difference in longitudinal movement that the stop nut 68 is spaced from the end of the nut 12 when the parts are in the position shown in Figure 1.

After the center-wire spindles 62 have been withdrawn the gear 86 is rotated to slide shaft 92, plates 84--86 and ejectors 82 and 88 to the right to elect the formed articles from the die I8 into the position shown in Figure 2 whereupon they may be readily removed. Thereafter the eiectors are withdrawn by rotating gear 90 and the center-wires 62 are advanced by rotating gear 18. Then the piston 52 is moved to the left to bring the die members to the position shown in Figure 1.

lThereafter the cycle is repeated.

It may be pointed out here that the injection molding machine described above has no heated spreader or pineapple in the heating chamber I2 just preceding nozzle i4 as is used in many plastic injection molding machines. In other words, ow of the composition through the heater to the nozzle is unimpeded. The advantages of such ow are: low injection pressures can be used, a high percentage of which is transmitted to the dies; decreased wear of the molding machine parts subjected to pressure and corresponding increase in life of these parts; production of good electrical insulators. y

Elimination of the pineapple or spreader from the heater is possible because of the better heat conductivity of the composition used. I have successfullyused compositions having the following ingredients `in quantities within the ranges listed:

Per cent Inorganic material 82-89 Plastic material 11-18 Ethyl cellulose or the like 3-7 Shellac 2.5-7 plasticizer 3-9 The composition which has given the best results is the following:

The non-plastic material is ground to a fine powder, preferably so that not more than 10% remains on a screen having 325 meshes to the linear inch. Like most ceramic compositions for which this method of forming is especially desirable, the composition does not become completely sintered until high temperatures are reached, in this case on the order of 1670 C.

The nely ground ceramic material is mixed with the ethyl cellulose or other resin and shellac and ground in a suitable mill, preferably a ball mill, for about 12 hours to pulverize the binder and thoroughly mix it with the ceramic material. Thereafter the plasticizer, n-butyl stearate, is added and the composition is again thoroughly mixed in a suitablev mill. This mixing may be done hot or cold. If it is done hot the mixture must subsequently be crushed to facilitate feeding into the injection molding apparatus. If the ingredients are mixed cold the molding composition should be dried for a ltime to remove any water vapor which may have become entrained with it.

The function of the plasticizer is to increase theA fluidity of the plastic to within practical molding temperature ranges and to serve as a lubricant.

The resulting mixture,` or raw batch, is then molded by the process described above under a pressure of about 25,000 lbs. per square inch.

'Ihe shellac in the composition is both a thermoplastic and a slowly thermosetting resin; for example, at 250 F., kusum shellac requires four hours to cure. Ethyl cellulose on the other hand is purely thermoplastic and in a pure state melts at about 400 F. N-butyl stearate acts as a plasticizer for the ethyl cellulose, lowering the softening point so that the mixture can be easily molded without decomposition at 300 F. Thus for molding purposes the composition may be considered thermoplastic at 300 F. and one may rely on cooling in the dies to solidify the material. Die temperatures average about F.

The next step is drying of the molded ceramic ware. This drying may be carried out at temperatures up to 500 F. 'I'he material as molded is thermoplastic. If the molded articles were fired through a kiln without additional processing they would usually warp and blister. This condition would be aggravated by an increase in wall thickness of the molded article. Obviously, heat applied to the molded article would soften the composition and increase the vapor pressure of the plasticizer. The plastic material in the article would soften in the preheating zone of the tunnel kiln to the point where actual flow of the material might occur, causing distortion of the molding. If the vapor pressure of the n-butyl stearate were allowed to increase faster thanthe vapor could be dissipated uniformly through the pores of the article with the composition still plastic, gas pockets would form, resulting in a spongy structure. From a consideration of these factors, it can be seen what the function of the drying operation should be. In the case of a composition with a purely thermoplastic binder, the purpose of a drying stage might be to evaporate the n-butyl stearate at a controlled rate to prevent deformation and/or prevent the formation of gas pockets, and to elevate the softening point of the plastic to its maximum value so that subsequent decomposition of the binder during the ring stage would cause no changes in the structure of the molded article. Such a drying process would take in the neighborhood of '10 hours or more, depending on wall thickness of the article. By employing a plastic which is thermoplastic and slowly thermosetting, such as shellac, I provide a composition which is thermoplastic during the molding process .and which hardens permanently or sets during the drying' stage to give the molded articles dimentional stability. I have thus been able to reduce the drying period from 72 hours for a molded article of given dimensions to 24 hours for that article. This is possible because the shellac cures or sets during the preliminary stages of the drying operation, permitting 'a more rapid increase in the drying temperature than would be feasible with compositions using only a thermoplastic binder. Furthermore, the combination of shellac and a purely thermoplastic resin modifies the properties of the shellac to give a binder having a greater covering power, which means less plastic is necessary to give modability to the ceramic material; it is possible to get good flow with a small percentage of plastic, resulting in less shrinkage; the composition has a longer life under heat before too great a change from the thermoplastic to the thermosetting state takes place; it was further found that shellac alone and Vethyl cellulose alone were not ideal, shellac causing a shell-like layer to form on the surface of the dried ceramic ware and ethyl cellulose alone causing shrinkage cracks in the insulator during drying. The combination of the two plastics remedied both diilculties.

The dried bodies are then red to completely drive oil.r the binder and to sinter the ceramic material into a dense non-porous body. The firing 7 process is believed to include the following stages: (1) decomposition of the plastic binder; (2) oxidation of residual carbon; (3) sintering of the ceramic material into a non-porous state.

The above process has been used successfully with other molding compositions employing various thermoplastic binders 'such as polystyrene, cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butyrate, methyl methacrylate and vinyl resins instead of ethyl cellulose with shellac. In each case, however, it is preferable to use a plasticizer which volatilizes or sublimes at temperatures below the softening point of the binder. Where subliming plasticizers are used it has been found expedient to employ a suitable die lubricant or sufficient quantities of a liquid plasticizer to furnish lubrication in order to facilitate molding.

It is also desirable to use plasticizers which do not appreciably dissolve the plastic. Otherwise there may be a tendency for the material to stick to the molds. K

Fired bodies have also been produced from molds has been found to be sumcient. but controlled water-cooling will usually be found to be preferable.

The above process may also be found useful in producing articles of other powdered materials such as powdered metals, the thermoplastic binder and plasticizer serving the same Purpose of holding the powder in shape during the preliminary stages of sintering. In some instances it may prove to be desirable to retain some 0f the binder residue in the finished article, but in most cases it will be preferable to completely eliminate -it. Either result may be accomplished by selecting suitable binders and by controlling the firing procedure.

Other modifications within the scope of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, the invention can be practised in an injection molding machine in which the heated pineapple or spreader is used, although I prefer to eliminate this spreader.

molding compositions employing polystyrene as the plastic, triphenol phosphate as the plasticizer and stearic acid as the die lubricant. Thermoplastic phenol formaldehyde resins have also been used as the plastic with phthalic anhydride or nbutyl stearate as the plasticizer. With this type of plasticthe use of other well-known plasticizers such as glycerol, o-cresol, dibutyl phthalate and tricresyl-phosphate is indicated. Bodies have also been produced using cellulose acetate as the plastic with glycerol tripropionate as the plasticizer. While the spark plug insulators produced from molding compositions other than those containing ethyl cellulose were inferior to those obtained with it. it is to be understood that this process has wide applicability in the manufacture of ceramic articles for many uses. Most ceramic articles are fired at much lower temperatures than spark plug insulators and for many such uses the latter compositions will prove to be quite satisfactory.

While certain plastic binders such as cellulose acetate and ethyl cellulose may be pulverized and mixed with the ceramic material in a ball mill, other materials. such as polyvinyl acetate, require hot mixing. Hot mixing results in coating the individual particles of the ceramic material with the plastic binder so that there is little opportunity for moisture to remain in the mix.

'I'he plasticizer, with or without the addition of lubricant, may be incorporated in the batch either by hot or cold mixing.' Hot mixed material must be crushed to at least coarse grain size to permit feeding it into the molding apparatus.

In general, best results have been obtained with a total plastic and plasticizercontent varying from 11 to 18%. The plastic content should preferably be kept low to prevent distortion of the body on final firing.

Molding temperatures should, of course, be carefully controlled to prevent heating the plasticizer to the point of volatilization so as to interfere with the molding process. Nor should the composition be so fluid as to run out of the nozzle between molding cycles.

Although molding pressures ranging from 12,500 to 50,000 lbs. per square inch may be successfully used, pressures of from 20,000 to 30,000 pounds per square inch have been found most satisfactory but molding pressures as well as molding and cooling time will be subject to consil'lerable variation in practice.

I claim:

1. The process of making ceramic articles comprising the following steps: preparing a molding composition consisting of a mixture of finely pulverized ceramic material, a thermoplastic and thermosetting binder, and a plasticzer having an appreciable vapor pressure at a temperature below the softening point of the binder, said plasticirer being in fluid form so as to lubricate the mold, and said binder being substantially insoluble in the plasticizer: heating the composition to make it ud; injecting the heated fluid material into a mold; cooling the mold to harden the article into its molded shape; heating the article to drive ofi the plasticizer and lset the thermosetting binder; and firing the article to drive oi the binder and sinter the ceramic material into a coherent body, said binder being a thermoplastic resin mixed with shellac.

2. A molding composition composed substantially as follows: 84% finely pulverized ceramic material, 5.8% ethyl cellulose, 5.8% shellac and 4.4% N-butyl stearato.

3. The process of claim 1 in which the binder is composed of ethyl cellulose and shellac. the ethyl cellulose being about 3 to 7% of the molding composition `and the shellao being about 2.5 to 7% thereof.

4. A raw batch consisting largely of finely pulverized ceramic material and containing about 3% to 7% ethyl cellulose and about 2.5% to '1% shellac.

5. The process of making ceramic articles which comprises, preparing a molding composition consisting of about 82% to 89% of finely pulverized ceramic material and about 11% to 18% of a plastic material composed of ethyl cellulose, shellac and N-butyl stearate, heating the molding composition to make it plastic, injecting under pressure the heated plastic molding composition into a mold, cooling the mold to harden the molded shape, heating the moldedshape to drive off the plasticizer and set the shellac. and thereafter ring the molded shape to drive off ethyl cellulose and shellac and to sinter the shape into a. coherent body.

6. The process of making ceramic articles comprising the `following steps: preparing a molding composition consisting A of a mixture of finely pulverized ceramic material, a binder composed of ethyl cellulose and shellac. and a plasticizer having an appreciable vapor pressure at a temperature below the softening point of the binder,

In some instances ordinary air cooling of the said plasticizer being in fluid form so as to lubricate the mold, and said binder being substantially insoluble in the plasticizer; heating the molding composition to make it plastic;` inJecting the plastic molding composition under pressure into a mold; cooling the mold to harden the article into its molded shape; heating the molded shape to drive oli the plasticizer and to set the shellac; and firing the article to drive oi! the binder and to set the ceramic material into a coherent body.

7. A raw batch composed largely of nely pulverized ceramic material and containing 3 to 7% of ethyl cellulose and 2.5 to 7% of a thermoplastic and slowly thermosetting material.

8. A raw batch composed largely of iinely pulverized ceramic material and containing 3 to 7% of a synthetic thermoplastic molding material and 2.5% to 7% shellac.

9. A molding composition composed of between 82 and 89% of finely pulverized ceramic material, between 3 and 7% of ethyl cellulose, between 2.5% and 7% of shellac and between 3 and 9% of a plasticizer.

10. A molding composition composed of between 82 and 89% of nely pulverized ceramic material, between about 3 and 7% of a synthetic thermoplastic molding material, between 2.5% and 7% of sheliac and between 3 and 9% oi a plasticizer.

RUSSELL W. EHLERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Warren Apr. 25, 1846 Welling Apr. 27, 1869 Macker Feb. 13, 1872 Williams May 10, 1887 Grunzweig Feb. 28, 1899 Castle Jan, 9, 1906 Hand Apr. 6, 1909 Schrewis et al, Jan. 8, 1918 Anderson June 12, 1923 Miller Apr. 17, 1928 Wiegand Sept. 24, 1935 Haglund July 28, 1936 Carter et al June 21, 1938 Schwartzwalder July 5, 1938 Fuwa Nov. 15, 1938 McDougal et al. Feb. 10. 1942 Sullivan et al. June 30, 1942 Klinger et al Dec. 22, 1942 McDougal et al. Jan. 12, 1943 Schwartzwalder et aLJan. 12, 1943 Wiggam Mar, 9, 1943 Wiggam et al' Aug. 17, 1943 Borglin Aug. 24, 1943 De Bell Oct. 10, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain 1917 Great Britain Aug. 8, 1938 

